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January 13, 2010
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Just what everyone was waiting for…
April 15, 2005
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About damn time! 
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
January 27, 1992
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Definately enough “gun” to do the job! RDB
November 7, 2015
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Old rifle still has it. Good shot!
Mike
April 15, 2005
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TXGunNut said
Old rifle still has it. Good shot!
Mike
Not too many people can say they went gopher hunting with a 40-90 Sharps!
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Old rifle still has it. Good shot!
Mike
Not too many people can say they went gopher hunting with a 40-90 Sharps!
I’m pretty sure it never occurred to the gopher.
Mike
November 7, 2015
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I think you’ll have to settle for a shoulder munt, Kirk. Full body would be rather tedious.
Mike
January 8, 2025
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This is why I become a member of WACA
Good shot, looks like there’s plenty of giblets for the gravy.
April 15, 2005
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MidwestCrisis said
This is why I become a member of WACA
Good shot, looks like there’s plenty of giblets for the gravy.
What Kirk did not mention, was that he needed a fair amount of “Kentucky windage” to hit the target (gopher). The 280-grain bullet he loaded is a “bit on the light side” for that cartridge, and it required a minus 6 o’clock hold to hit the target.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
January 8, 2025
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The task was completed. Doesn’t matter what it took to get it done.
I have a varmit problem as well and I like to see people making shots with bullet weights that equal the varmits size.
March 31, 2009
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Love it. Wish I had one. I saw this rifle in Cody but didn’t take the time to really look at it.
April 15, 2005
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Chuck said
Love it. Wish I had one. I saw this rifle in Cody but didn’t take the time to really look at it.
I too got to put my hands on it and inspect it before he bought it… Kirk was trying to figure out which specific cartridge it was chambered for.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
March 31, 2009
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By the time I saw it I had already bought 2 rifles and was broke. Glad some WACA Member got it.
April 26, 2019
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Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Old rifle still has it. Good shot!
Mike
Not too many people can say they went gopher hunting with a 40-90 Sharps!
You’re right, Bert, not many people do.
Not many people hunt grouse with a .50-90 Sharps either. Here’s a pic. All I can say about that, if you’re gonna shoot a grouse with a .50-calibre Sharps, you’d better make it a head shot!
You may recognize my old Jack Russell terrier Gaston in that photo. Gaston appeared in the October 2022 WACA calendar. Well, I have a new Jack Russell pup. His name is Emmett.
I do forestry consulting and Emmett comes to work with me. Here’s a pic of that. In this photo, Emmett has walked up a fallen tree, hopped over onto the next one and continued on up it. When I saw him, he was 10 feet in the air.
It took me a minute to get my camera out. By then, Emmett was headed back down. I told him to stop and sit, which I did. It gave me enough time to take this pic.
I know it’s not an antique Winchester topic but I thought you boys might be interested.
Pete Hynard, Ontario, Canada
October 14, 2024
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Nice. Those Jack Russell’s are high energy!
April 15, 2005
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Yes, very nice. Emmet must have some cat blood in him to climb so fearlessly like that!
With the .50 Caliber Sharps, you can load it with shot shells to make the Grouse hunting a bit easier!
I have an original Winchester Single Shot high-wall in 50-95 WCF, and these shells were made specifically for it;
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 19, 2006
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Great demonstration of how we don’t need any of this newfangled (post 1898) stuff.
April 15, 2005
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steve004 said
Great demonstration of how we don’t need any of this newfangled (post 1898) stuff.
I concur!!
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
April 26, 2019
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Bert H. said
Yes, very nice. Emmet must have some cat blood in him to climb so fearlessly like that!
With the .50 Caliber Sharps, you can load it with shot shells to make the Grouse hunting a bit easier!
I have an original Winchester Single Shot high-wall in 50-95 WCF, and these shells were made specifically for it;Bert
April 26, 2019
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Pete Hynard said
Bert H. said
Yes, very nice. Emmet must have some cat blood in him to climb so fearlessly like that!
With the .50 Caliber Sharps, you can load it with shot shells to make the Grouse hunting a bit easier!
I have an original Winchester Single Shot high-wall in 50-95 WCF, and these shells were made specifically for it;
Bert
Thank you, Bert. You have good suggestions.
I tried it. I used Unique powder and 11/16 oz. of #8 birdshot (300 grains) and increased the load until the base measurement of the case equaled the black powder load. That happened at 10.0 grains of Unique and 1,050 f.p.s. It’s a light load but the pressure is MAX.
The problem is shot spread. A grouse body is about the same size as a standard 12-oz. beer can. My goal was for a minimum of three pellets in a can and a maximum of eight. For those results, testing showed an effective range of 12-20 yards but patterns were erratic. (No, I don’t think it was the beer.) A bird can fly off with one or two pellets in his body. Not what you want.
So I went to a cast .44-40 bullet held in a 50-calibre plastic sabot. I was trying to reduce recoil from the full-power load. I used XMP 5744 powder and increased the charge until the point of impact was the same as my standard buffalo load. That happened at 30.0 grains of powder and 1,436 f.p.s. Recoil and pressure are light. Base expansion is 0.0015” less than the black powder benchmark.
The problem with the sabot load is accuracy. At 100 yards, five-shot groups range from 5 to 8 inches. At grouse range, that’s a little more than head size. The last thing you want to do is shoot the beak off a grouse and have it fly away.
In my rifle, things work best with full-power loads. It’s an original Model 1869 in VG condition. Here’s a pic. You can see the inside of the bore in this fall’s issue of Winchester Collector magazine.
In the end, I found that a Sharps original is not the best gun for grouse. I shot the bird you saw in the earlier pic and called it quits. Next I tried a compound bow with a 50-lb. draw weight. Here’s a photo of that. That has its issues too. Now I use an 1873 Winchester in .22 Short. More accurate than the Sharps and less recoil.
Speaking of recoil, here’s a QUESTION for you: How can you tell a Sharps shooter? ANSWER: Look at his shoulder. Here’s what eight full-power rounds did to mine.
Pete
Ooops! One photo did not come through. Here it is.
Pete
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